Purpose
To explore the unique challenges that occur when conducting research in developing countries so the reader can consider approaches for providing ethically and culturally-appropriate research strategies applicable for the context of the host country.
Organizing Construct
This article presents an overview of the challenges, which are organized based on the phases of the research period: pre-enrollment, enrollment, and post-enrollment. At each stage, examples of adaptation to meet the challenges are presented and recommendations are posited.
Conclusions
Strategies for research should protect the rights of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations while balancing the needs of society at-large, provide culturally relevant ethical informed consent while balancing institutional review board requirements, and conduct research in a culturally-appropriate manner for the host country while balancing the principles of ethical research established by developed countries.
Clinical Relevance
Researchers are implored to focus on the ethical and cultural appropriateness of each aspect of the study process to afford the highest level of research credibility and validity.
STTI supports the learning, knowledge, and professional development of nurses worldwide. International service and collaboration are key to the advancement of the nursing profession. Culturally relevant approaches to international service and service learning are essential to our global organization, as it aims to impact the health status of people globally.
Facebook is an online social networking Web site that allows users to connect with other users. Nurse educators can use this technology to advance nursing research. Social networks provide new opportunities for locating potential research participants and maintaining contact during the research process. The purpose of this article is to explain how the researcher used Facebook to locate previous nursing students to ask them to participate in a qualitative study. Between 2006 and 2008, 22 nursing students had participated in international trips over a 3-year period. Because the students had graduated and moved to other geographical areas, the researcher had little or no contact information to use to follow-up with them. The researcher used Facebook to locate 18 of the 22 nursing graduates and invite them to participate in a qualitative research study. A discussion of the process and the potential ethical issues are provided.
Objective
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effectiveness of a culturally appropriate promotora training program related to oral rehydration therapy and diarrheal management. Factors that influenced the development, implementation, and evaluation of the program provided to low-literacy women in Guatemala are explored.
Design and Sample
Promotora training was conducted with 15 Mayan women from a rural community in the highlands of Guatemala. Women were selected by leaders of the community to participate in the program.
Measures
Quantitative data were collected and analyzed to determine descriptive statistics and reliability coefficients for the pretests and posttests. A non-parametric Wilcoxon test for paired-samples was conducted. The qualitative data from the program evaluations were analyzed for themes.
Results
Mean scores increased from 41.73 (sd = 9.65) to 70.33 (sd = 21.29) on the pretest and posttest. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.54 on the pretest with 0.65 on the posttest. The Wilcoxon test demonstrated a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores (Z = 3.040, p < .05).
Conclusions
Extremely low literacy levels played a major role in the ability of the women to successfully complete the requirements of the training program. The curriculum demonstrated effectiveness, but will benefit from replication with a larger sample.
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